High silica zeolitic materials are important catalysts by virtue of high stability and controlled acidity. Numerous methods have been developed to dealuminate aluminosilicate zeolites and convert them into high silica analogs, see, for example, Kerr (Amer. Chem. Soc. Symp. Ser. #121, p. 219 (1973)), McDaniel and Maher (Amer. Chem. Soc. Monograph #171, p. 285 (1976)), and Scherzer (Amer. Chem. Soc. Symp. Ser. #248, p. 157 (1984)). More recently, much interest has focused on dealumination using ammonium silicon hexafluoride, see for example, Breck and Skeels (Proc. 6th. Int'l. Zeolite Conf., p. 87, (1984) Butterworks Press) and nonaqueous solvents with SiCl.sub.4, [see Rees and Lee (P.C.T. W088/01254 (1988))]. All of these methods suffer from a tendency to non-selective Al.sup.3+ removal, with selective surface enrichment with silicon or aluminum. Furthermore, they are difficult to control at specific Al.sup.3+ removal levels, and in some cases significantly damage the pore structure of the zeolite.